Aftermath
by Cybat
Summary: Finally, I'm back! After days of dealing with school, I've finally finished this fic! The smashers prepare to battle Emerald! Stay tuned for my next one, and please r&r!!
1. Prologue

(A/N: Well, I'm back, everyone! I don't know if many people here actually remember me, because I've been gone for two months, but nonetheless, I'm going to continue with my action/adventure series. Granted, there's no new SSB game for me to explain, but I'm not going to let that stop me. By the way, if you haven't read any of my 6 other action/adventure fics yet (or even just a few), you probably should read them, since my fics tend to use information and characters introduced in previous fics. I wouldn't want you to be confused or anything. Oh, and as long as you're reading them, review them! 

Anyways, without further ado, what will arise from the aftermath of the Shadow War? Let's find out.)

Aftermath

by Ryan Myers

Prologue: Nightmare

A room. Blindingly bright, with two distinguishable figures, one in green and one in white. I can't move my arms or legs.

"What's its power output?"

"Normal. Check the motor control."

I hear what they say, but I don't understand. I think they're talking about me.

"Are its visual circuits online?"

"Let me check. Yes, they are."

"Fantastic. And audio?"

"Yes, but-"

"Hello, my lovely creation."

The green thing is in front of me. He's talking to me, but it's all gibberish.

"Sir, its intelligence is still very low. It will be quite some time before it will be able to understand you."

"Fine. Shut it off."

I understand _that_. I pull really hard, and I can move my arms again.

"He's broken the restraints! Get him!"

The white man grabs me. I push him away, but he goes too far and hits the far-away wall. Then, I can't move again. I see green.

"Maybe we made you just a bit too powerful. We'll, we can't hook you back up to the machine in the condition you left it. This will have to do."

"N-no." Another voice said far away, sounding sad. "Only the machine will-"

"You dare to disagree with me? I am Emerald, the most powerful being in this dimension, and I can do whatever I want!"

"If you insist."

He grabs my arm and squeezes. I try to pull away but he's too strong. Suddenly, I feel all tingly. 

"You foolish little creation, I hope you realize that you've set yourself up for nothing but agony."

The tingle turns sharper, and then it starts to really hurt. I try to scream, but make no noise.

"Since we can't give you intelligence with the computer, we'll have to do it the hard way. This is all you need to know: you work for me and do everything I say."

It really really hurts. Suddenly, I can speak, and I do. I scream with all my energy.

"Screaming won't help you. You're the one who was uncooperative."

I manage to lift my arm up and fire a blast at him. The pain stops for a second.

"You're learning fast," the green man says. "Good."

He grabs both arms and squeezes. I can't stand up anymore; it hurts so much.

"Now then. You were created by me to serve me and to help me conquer the cosmos. You serve only me, and if you do not obey me..."

He's talking quietly, but somehow I hear him perfectly over my screaming.

The white man comes up slowly and says, "I don't think he's in much of a position to serve you, Emerald."

"Silence!" Emerald shouts, shooting a green thing at the white man. He disappears.

"As I was saying," Emerald continues, as the pain grows stronger, "this is nothing compared to what will happen if you do not obey me. Your first assignment is to give this virus to a woman in a dimension that I will show you. It will cause the woman to give birth to an…anomaly."

I manage to nod my head through the pain. I can't imagine where he's going with this, but that's none of my business.

"I'll give you further instructions later. For now, all you need to know is your name."

The pain is so strong now that I can't even move. Emerald only grins at my agony.

"Your name is-"

Aelali woke up gasping. _Emerald_…he thought to himself. _He created Anomaly!_ He looked around, finding himself in the toy dimension, amidst the destruction caused by the war. He shook his head. _I'll go back to Eclipsia…and plan my revenge!_

(A/N: See what I mean? If you haven't read my 6th fic (Total War) yet, you have absolutely no idea what's going on! Anyway, the next chapter is coming soon (which you will also have to read my 6th fic to understand). In the meantime, you can catch up on my old fics.)


	2. Alarm

Chapter 1: Alarm

Spiderman stared down his opponent. The cheering in the background meant nothing. All that mattered was to finish off this pompous "Mace Windu".

As the Jedi Knight ignited his light saber, Spiderman swung into action, delivering a perfect jump kick to Windu's skull – except Windu's skull wasn't there anymore. As Spiderman landed, Mace charged up, ready to swing his light saber. Spiderman felt a familiar tingling sensation, and backflipped to avoid the attack. 

"Seems we have a stalemate," Spiderman taunted.

"Yeah, right," came the reply.

Spiderman backflipped again, and climbed up a wall. From the top, he fired a web ball right at Mace's eyes. He heard a few boos from behind him, but ignored them. Windu lowered his light saber and closed his eyes. 

"What's the matter, Mace?" Spiderman jeered, swinging down to attack. "Your little powers don't help you if you can't see?"

Spiderman delivered the same jump kick as before, but Mace dodged it again.

"Wha-"

"Actually," Windu said smugly, "my powers still work just fine, thank you."

Spiderman, frustrated, sent a flurry of punches and kicks at Windu, but he avoided them all easily, and then kicked Spiderman in the stomach.

"Maybe you should cover your eyes, too, so it would be more fair," Windu mocked.

"Maybe I'll just cover your _mouth_."

Spiderman suddenly had a great idea. He jumped forward and faked a kick to the head. At the last moment, he shot a webline at Windu's feet, and pulled him down. Mace dropped the lightsaber, and Spiderman leapt over and got it just before Windu's Jedi powers could take it. The boos grew louder.

"Please give that back, Spiderman."

Spiderman grinned. "My pleasure."

The hero shot a web line at the light saber, pushing it toward Windu. Windu caught it, and his hand immediately stuck to the webbing covering the handle. Spiderman, still holding on to the other end up the webline, stepped straight back with one foot, and pivoted. He then started spinning around, taking Mace on the ride of his life. The boos disappeared, and turned to loud cheering. Spiderman let go of the line, and Mace flew backward into a wall. 

"Good match!" Master Hand shouted.

The other toys in the toy dimension went to congratulate Spiderman, but he shook them off.

"Good fight, Mace," Spiderman said to his erstwhile opponent, shaking his hand.

"Very good," the Jedi agreed. "We'll have to do it again sometime."

Spiderman and Mace walked over to Master Hand, who, as leader of the toy dimension, had a very large, odd-looking throne.

"That was very entertaining," Master Hand commented. "Why didn't either of you fight with us during the war?"

"Hey," Spiderman replied, "I may be entertaining, but I'm not suicidal."

Master Hand, Mace, and Juvenor laughed. Juvenor enjoyed serving as Master Hand's second-in-command very much, but it was somewhat boring.

Clyne was walking up to talk to Spiderman and Mace, when he stopped suddenly and stared off in the distance.

"What's wrong, Clyne?" Juvenor asked.

Clyne stared gravely at the assembly, and replied, "Aelali. He just went to Eclipsia."

"What?!" Master Hand gasped. "I'm going-"

"Unfortunately," Juvenor interceded, "As leaders of this dimension, neither you nor I are permitted to leave."

Master Hand looked disappointed. "Right. Well, we don't have time to look for volunteers. Spiderman and Mace, go with Clyne."

Spiderman shrugged. "I could go for a bit of shadow-beating."

The three fighters disappeared into the portal.

"I'd better call the smashers." Master Hand mused.

Aelali sat in the shadow dimension, deep in thought. Not only did he want revenge on Emerald, he realized, he also needed to stop his creator from creating another "anomaly", or otherwise trying to capture some dimensions. As far as he could tell, though, Emerald was nigh omnipotent; what could he do?

"Aelali!" came a cry from behind. "What are you doing?"

Aelali slowly turned around, terrified of seeing Emerald behind him. Instead, he saw Clyne, and two others he didn't recognize. This was frightening enough itself; he realized that Clyne had seen him leave and thought the worst.

"Clyne, it's not what you think-"

"Don't tell me what I think!" Clyne nearly spat. "I saw what you did to my friends during the war!"

Aelali shook his head. "I can explain that, but I'll wait. I assume you have more people coming to back you up?"

"Sorry to wake you guys, but we have a situation here," Master Hand's voice said in twenty-two fighters' heads. 

"That doesn't sound good," Link commented.

"Well, it's not. I'm creating portals for each of you. They'll take you to the shadow dimension."

"What?!" came the more or less simultaneous response.

"Aelali is back."

"Ah," Aelali said as the smashers began to appear. "Thought so."

"You'll pay for what you did to us!" Falco shouted.

"Wait a minute!" Aelali shouted. "Please, listen to my side of the story."

Aelali explained his nightmare and its implications. The smashers listened ambivalently, not sure whether to believe him or not.

After Aelali finished, the dimension was silent for a moment. Finally, Mario said, "What do youa suggesta, Aelali?"

Taken by surprise, Aelali stammered, "Well, I sort of assumed you'd ignore me and leave."

"If you like," Spiderman answered, turning around.

"No, I think we should try to get this guy." Samus suggested. "If he really did create Anomaly…"

"And you're just going to believe him?" Bowser growled. "It takes a good liar to know one."

"We'll handle this." Ness and Mewtwo said, stepping forward.

A few moments later, Mewtwo gasped. "He's telling the truth."

"Well, let's go get Emerald!" DK shouted.

"Fools."

The sky turned from shadowy black to bright green, almost blindingly bright. When the smashers could see clearly again, they saw a glowing green figure floating above them.

"Emerald, I presume?" Clyne said.

"Indeed. And you are the ones who defeated my shadow army?"

"We are." Marth replied, gripping Falchion tightly.

"Well, you're obviously too powerful for me." Emerald said sarcastically. "I'd better send you to someone who can deal with you better."

With that, Emerald fired a huge green beam at the assembled smashers, and they disappeared.

"Now, as for you, Aelali…"

(A/N: Where did Emerald send the smashers? What punishment will Aelali receive? Um…I think that's it. Stay tuned!)


	3. Warm Welcomes

(A/N: Yes, I went on vacation again and left this fic alone for a week. So sue me.)

Chapter 2: Warm Welcomes

The smashers found themselves in a gloomy, nearly featureless dimension. The sky was a dark pink, and the ground was

"Where are we?" Ness wondered.

"Nowhere I recognize," Clyne replied warily.

"Couldn't you just take us back?" Falcon asked dryly.

"Well, I-" Clyne began, then stopped suddenly.

Clyne was fading away before the smashers' eyes. Before any smasher could fully comprehend the situation, Clyne had vanished completely.

"Very ominous indeed," Samus commented.

"Yeah, but look!" Young Link pointed cheerfully. 

The smashers followed his finger to behold a large, golden statue. The base was nearly covered with dedicatory writing, and on the top was a large glove.

"Hey, any dimension that has a statue honoring Master Hand must not be too bad," Kirby pointed out.

"Yes…but why would Emerald send us here?" Roy retorted.

No one had an answer. The statue stood as the only feature in the skyline.

"Let'sa explore a bita," Mario suggested.

The smashers walked around in circles for what seemed like hours, but found nothing but…well, nothing.

Clyne groaned and stood up. His surroundings were completely dark; he could barely see himself. He stretched a bit, and was about to explore, when he heard a voice behind him. He gripped his staff tightly.

"Welcome, Clyne. Don't even think of trying to teleport away; it won't work,"

"Who are you?" Clyne demanded, whirling around. Of course, he still couldn't see anything.

"Don't move around too much, either. This room is rather small," the voice continued, ignoring Clyne.

"I said, who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Impatient, aren't we? You'll know soon enough. I want to chat first,"

Clyne stared into the darkness. What sort of insane opponent was he facing? He swung his staff experimentally in front of him. He hit something metal; presumably a wall.

"I told you this room is small! You don't listen, Clyne."

Clyne rolled his eyes. He was at his captor's mercy.

Emerald stared at his creation with amusement. "The war went badly, didn't it?" he asked casually, as if he were discussing the weather.

"Er…yes, it did," Aelali replied, somewhat afraid.

"But you played your part well. It's a shame you had to go and remember everything."

Aelali found no reasonable response to that, so he remained silent.

"Don't worry, my little pet. Although you failed miserably and are now presumably planning to join the smashers against me, I am not upset. I probably would have done the same in your place. Except the miserably failing part."

"That…I couldn't have…"

"I know, I know. Super Sonic was an unforeseen variable."

"Wh-what are you going to do?"

Aelali felt his anxiety increase. He realized that Emerald was somehow toying with his psyche, increasing his fear.

"You'll see, my little pet. You'll see."

"This is ridiculous! What in the world did Emerald send us here for?" Bowser roared furiously.

"Well, the only thing here is the statue," Peach pointed out. "Maybe there's a clue on it or something."

"Good idea! I'll go check," Ganondorf volunteered.

"Oh, come on! You can't read!" Link teased. Ganondorf glared at him.

"Now children, no fighting," Game & Watch admonished.

Grumbling, Ganondorf walked over to the golden sculpture.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed out.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi agreed.

"Puff?" Jigglypuff wondered.

"What're they saying?" Popo whispered to Nana.

"We never bother to ask," Nana replied.

"Are you ready to show yourself yet?" Clyne sighed, after a long session of bantering.

"Ever impatient! Well, I suppose now's a good a time as any," the voice replied mischievously.

The lights came on suddenly, and Clyne shielded his eyes. After a few moments or recovering his eyesight, he found that the room was neither small nor metallic. Then what did his staff strike earlier? He turned around, and gasped in incredulity. 

"Any day now, Ganondorf," Falco sighed.

"I told you he couldn't read," Link grinned.

"Damn!" Ganondorf shouted, much too loudly.

"What could be so important that would prompt you to use such language in front of children?" Zelda scolded.

Ganondorf, instead of responding to Zelda's reproach, simply stared at the writing on the base. "This statue isn't honoring Master Hand,"

"Who elsea could ita be honoring?" Luigi wondered skeptically. "That'sa a very gooda likeness."

Ganondorf nodded. "It's honoring Crazy Hand."

(A/N: Oh no! What sort of sick, twisted dimension would have a statue honoring Crazy Hand? Who is Clyne's opponent? And what will Emerald do to Aelali? Find out…sometime.)


	4. Ambush

(A/N: I noticed an unfinished sentence in the last chapter. It should read, "The sky was a dark pink, and the ground was greenish.")

Chapter 3: Ambush

Clyne stared as he saw the face of his opponent. It was a face that was very familiar to Clyne.

"You're…me?" Clyne gasped, seeing a perfect duplicate of himself.

"Close," the other Clyne replied, grinning. "See, I am the new leader to this dimension – after you and your friends killed the former leader."

"Who-"

The evil Clyne laughed evilly, extending his right hand dramatically and pointing to it with his left hand. "Crazy Hand," he replied. "And I am Crazy Clyne."

Clyne could only stare in horror.

The pink skies faded away, as the smashers realized that it was only a ruse. Behind the disappearing pink walls that served as a false sky, the smashers saw thousands of green-clad warriors, waiting, rather impatiently, to strike. Behind the warriors was a vast building.

"Lovely," Mace groaned, igniting his light saber.

"Were they actually waiting for us to read the statue before they attacked us?" Falco sighed in disbelief. "What is this, some sort of video game?"

Mario looked around. "They'rea just standinga there," he noticed.

Spiderman rolled his eyes. "Waiting for us to find another clue?"

"Or maybe they were waiting for that!" Young Link shouted, pointing to a hole opening in the ground.

A figure leapt out. He was wearing white and red body armor that looked somewhat like Samus's. He snapped his fingers, and a small line of red light appeared. He hurled it at a warrior, who disappeared in a flash of red. The smashers stared.

"Who are you?" Samus asked.

The figure said nothing, but continued to throw darts of light. Finally, the green warriors attacked. The smashers jumped into action.

Mario swung his cape to spin several around, then spun his legs around in a down-smash. One came up from behind, and Mario had just enough time to turn around, heeding Luigi's warning, before he saw the attacker disappear in a flash of red. The armored figure jumped and flipped away.

Kirby sucked up a warrior and gained a green outfit. He found that the warriors didn't have any special talents to speak of, except an astonishing ability to die from Kirby's smashes and Final Cutters. They did get in a few good punches, though.

Marth and Roy had no problems with the warriors. They could easily plow through a group of them by swinging their swords. Suddenly, Roy was grabbed from behind. Before Marth could help him, the mysterious man jumped in to destroy the warrior, and disappeared again. Roy rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Spiderman also didn't have too much trouble. His spider-sense warned him of any impending punches, and his web attacks could take out long range opponents. He ran over to help DK, who was having trouble dispatching a large group of warriors. The hero arrived just in time to see all of DK's attackers disappear in flashes of red.

Crazy Clyne chuckled. "Your friends are under attack. I don't expect them to lose, but they will be weakened. And they are not prepared for my traps!"

Glaring, Clyne tightened his grip on his staff. "What are you going to do to them?"

"It won't concern you." 

Crazy Clyne's staff began to glow a dark purple, and he charged forward. Clyne blocked, and the two started swinging. Clyne could barely keep up with Crazy Clyne's incredible reflexes. He couldn't manage to get past his opponent's guard.

"You seem to be having problems, my boy. Maybe I should lighten up for a while," Crazy Clyne said with a smile. He backed up a bit, then fired a purple beam from his staff. Exhausted, Clyne ducked just in time. 

Mace's lightsaber finally felled the last warrior. The smashers gathered together in front of their apparent ally.

"I'll ask you again: who are you?" Samus said sternly.

As if in reply, the figure pressed a button on the helmet. The armor magically disappeared, revealing a beautiful blond woman wearing a tight red outfit. 

"Mario!" Peach shouted, watching Mario gaze at the woman.

"My name is Thyra," the woman said. "I'm a friend."

"Good to know," Falcon replied. "What are you doing here? And where _is _here?"

"I'll explain-" Thyra began, then gasped.

On top of the giant building in the background, the smashers saw a blinding flash. They heard a voice before they could see again.

"Welcome to Eccentrica! Our former ruler, Crazy Hand, met an unfortunate demise at the hands of certain fighters. The new ruler must avenge him! Me! So come and get me! Oh, by the way…I'd come if you ever want to see your friend Clyne again!"

The smashers heard the sickeningly familiar crazy laugh that they thought they had escaped.

(A/N: Will the smashers be able to defeat Crazy Clyne and his array of traps? What has happened to Clyne? And just who is Thyra? Find out in a few days!)


	5. Dangerous Territory

(A/N: Despite the fact that no one has reviewed in a while, I figured I might as well write another chapter, just in case people are reading and not reviewing for some ungodly reason. I suppose it might have something to do with the fact that there are quite a few original characters in this fic, so I shall endeavor to explain them in brief. Granted, you should just go and read my old fics instead…

The toy dimension: first appeared in A Mysterious Story (3rd fic); obviously not an original character but still important. Action figure versions of nearly every famous figure live there, including versions of the smashers themselves. The dimension is led by Master Hand, and vice-led (or something) by Juvenor.

Master: first appeared in A Mysterious Story; Master Hand's original form. When someone of M.H.'s race dies, his or her soul goes into the closest object, which was Master's dismembered hand. For more details, read the fic.

Juvenor: first identified in A Mysterious Story; Master's son. He was killed in an accident and assumed the body of an action figure of a boy with a powerful gun.

Clyne: first appeared in Prelude to War (5th fic); best friend of Juvenor. He is incredibly talented with a staff.

Aelali: first appeared in Total War (6th fic). He was the assistant to the powerful Anomaly, who attempted to take over the toy dimension. As was explained in the prologue, Aelali was created by Emerald, who also created Anomaly. Aelali has magical powers that are not yet fully known. And, he was named by The Skiver.

Emerald, Crazy Clyne, and Thyra have all been introduced in this fic; you're not missing anything there.

There, that's all you get. If you're still confused, go read my other fics. If there's another reason you're not reviewing…then…review and tell me.)

Chapter 4: Dangerous Territory

Clyne groaned and opened his eyes. He found himself elaborately immobilized by various metal restraints. Looking around further, he realized that Crazy Clyne had suspended him about halfway up the wall in a huge empty room. His staff was lying on the ground below his feet, obviously to taunt him. Suddenly, Crazy Clyne appeared in the middle of the room in a flash of light.

"Your friends are very worried about you," Crazy Clyne taunted. "I'm sure they'll walk right into my traps."

"Leave them alone!"

"I have no intention of doing that. Not after what they did to Crazy Hand."

"_He _attacked _them_! What were they supposed to do?"

"Die. Just like everyone else Crazy Hand is assigned to-" Crazy Clyne stopped, realizing he'd said too much.

"Assigned? By whom?"

Crazy Clyne laughed. "You're not in a position to be asking questions, little man." And with that, he vanished.

The smashers stared in shock at the space that Crazy Clyne had previously occupied.

"Eccentrica? Crazy Hand the leader? And an evil Clyne?" Falco sighed in frustration.

"This is not looking good," Roy concluded.

"So what should we do about Clyne?" Ganondorf asked.

"Whata do you mean, whata should wea do?" Mario glared. "Wea save hima."

"And walk into his trap? I don't think that's such a good idea. Besides, if he's anything like Crazy Hand, he'll keep Clyne alive just for fun," Ganondorf retorted.

"I guess that's true. But what's our other option?" Kirby wondered. "What are we going to do, sneak in the back way?"

"Well…" Thyra spoke again. "I do know of another way in, but it's very dangerous."

"More dangerous than Crazy Clyne?" Fox wondered.

"We'll see," Thyra replied, then started to run. "Follow me!" she called.

The smashers looked at each other, and sighed. They went to catch up with the mysterious woman.

Crazy Clyne laughed as he watched the smashers from his window. "So, they think they can outsmart me, hmm? This should be fun…"

Thyra ran forward and disappeared into a foggy swamplike area. Having ran faster than any of the smashers cared to, she was well into the swamp by the time the smashers entered the fog and regained sight of her. She was in the midst of a heated battle with what appeared to be some sort of swamp monster. More or less humanoid, the brownish green beast was no match for Thyra's speed and red darts.

"What was _that_?" Peach gasped.

"A swamp monster. There'll be a lot of them; we need to be prepared," Thyra replied. "Follow me, and be faster."

The smashers followed and ran into quite a few varieties of monsters, including frogs, snakes, more monsters, and very large insects.

"How much longer?" Young Link complained.

"I think we're-"

Thyra's reply was interrupted by a loud screech coming from underneath the murky water. Ominous bubbles and ripples began to appear.

"Maybe we should have walked into Crazy Clyne's trap," Game & Watch muttered as he watched the surface.

A voice came from behind them: "You did!"

The smashers whirled around to identify the voice but saw no one. Turning around, they saw a huge red tentacled leviathan erupt from the depths. Before anyone could react, a thick, slimy tentacle snaked forward and grabbed Thyra, pulling her down underwater.

"No!" Marth shouted.

"Pika!" yelled the Pokemon.

"Now how are we going to get out of this swamp?" Ganondorf sighed, echoing the others' fears. Even if they could defeat this monster, how could they find Clyne and his crazy counterpart?

(A/N: Dun dun dun. Maybe people will review this chapter; thanks to the two of you who have already.)


	6. Escape

Chapter 5: Escape

Crazy Clyne laughed as he watched the smashers' progress. "Now we have Thyra! Everything is going according to plan!" He turned to look at his prisoner. "I hope you're enjoying the view, because you won't have it for long!

The huge beast seemed somewhat reluctant to move after capturing the mysterious Thyra. The smashers stood, unsure of what to do, until Marth shook his head.

"This is absurd!" he shouted, and charged at the monster.

The creature reacted immediately, almost firing a tentacle to obstruct Marth's attack. Falchion made short work of the obstacle, and the creature recoiled in pain. Samus used this opportunity to fire a missile, and Young Link shot an arrow. The beast countered by whipping its tentacle at Peach, leaving a bloody gash on her leg. Peach collapsed dramatically, and cried in pain.

"No!" Mario shouted, lunging forward. As he launched his patent (and potent) fireballs, he couldn't help thinking, _why did Dr. Mario have to die?_

Jigglypuff ran up to the creature and stood right in front. The smashers eagerly awaited the beast's reaction to what they knew Jigglypuff would do.

With a "ting" (A/N: or something), Jigglypuff went to sleep, and the monster visibly recoiled. In its stunned state, each smashers took the opportunity to deliver his or her own form of punishment, except for Peach and Mario, who was watching her carefully.

Ganondorf screamed and delivered a Warlock Punch right on target. The creature was sustaining heavy damage by now, but managed to deliver a powerful attack to DK's arm. The ape responded with a Giant Punch, ignoring the pain temporarily.

The beast was still flailing its tentacles around almost constantly, but its attacks were so slow and weak by now that the smashers had no trouble ignoring that and continuing with the attack. Bowser's mighty headbutt finally sent the beast back under the murky water.

The smashers had little time to celebrate, as Peach was unconscious and the wound was beginning to swell. DK was in better condition; the beast had obviously lost most of its potency by then. Also, they had to find their way out of the swamp before they were similarly attacked again.

Ness concentrated hard, and quickly sensed the dominating presence of Crazy Clyne's confidence. He couldn't isolate it immediately, though, it was all around him. But that meant-

"Crazy Clyne set this up," he announced, motioning around him. "He knew we'd come this way."

"But how? Thyra said it was secret-" Zelda began, then gasped. The smashers (except DK) simultaneously concluded the same thing.

"Now, wait," Samus put in, always the voice of reason. "Crazy Clyne could just be monitoring us. There's no reason to assume anything yet. And we have to find her anyway; chances are she ended up in that big building."

Shrugging and nodding, the smashers followed Ness as he slowly found the way out of the hazy swamp. Finally, the blinding light of day indicated the smashers' success.

"Finally!" Young Link sighed.

Mario was in the back, supporting Peach with his brother's help. She looked awful; her skin was starting to turn pale.

"What are we going to do with her?" Luigi whispered, not bothering to use his accent.

"I don't know," Mario replied. "I guess one of us will have to stay behind to watch her."

The smashers looked along the huge wall of the building, until someone shouted, holding his black hand through an apparently holographic plate of the wall.

"There's the entrance!" Game & Watch shouted triumphantly, jumping up and down. An irritating beeping noise filled the air.

"G&W!" Bowser shouted.

"Sorry," the flat character replied sheepishly.

Mario motioned to the door, and Luigi nodded. The taller plumber left, leaving Mario to watch over the afflicted princess. The smashers walked through the false plate.

Clyne groaned as he regained consciousness again. He must have dozed off; Crazy Clyne's incessant laughing and ranting was rather soporific. He felt his arms starting to ache from being in an uncomfortable position for so long.

"Hey, Crazy Clyne, do you think you could-"

"Silence! This is the best part!"

"What?"

Crazy Clyne laughed and moved aside, giving Clyne a view of his monitor. It showed the smashers entering the "secret" door.

"Are we sure Crazy Clyne doesn't know about this?" Falcon asked suspiciously. "Holographic metal plates don't just _appear_ in walls, you know."

"That's true," Falco agreed. "C.C. probably has this place rigged."

"Well, we should be careful-" Marth was cut short by a huge metal spear that shot up from the ground. Marth, who ended up the leader somehow, barely darted away in time.

"I see your _point_, Marth," Kirby grinned. The smashers groaned.

The smashers continued down the small, narrow corridor, until they ran into a huge auburn door. The handle was about four feet above Bowser's head, and it looked heavy.

"I'll get it," Falco said, and jumped up. With his double jump and Fire Bird, he was able to pull himself on top of the handle.

"OK, push it down," Fox advised.

"Thanks," Falco sighed, jumping up and down to no avail.

"Ka…" Pikachu sighed, summoning his thunder underneath the handle to try to force it down, but in vain.

"Watch it!" Falco yelped.

Suddenly, the handle turned down by itself. Falco shouted in surprise and slid down, making a safe but ungraceful landing. The door, also by its own accord, slowly swung open.

(A/N: What will the smashers find behind door #1? What happened to Thyra, and whose side is she really on? Find out sometime later. Don't forget to review!)


	7. Sprung Traps

(A/N: You might have been confused by the fact that Dr. Mario is dead, as Mario mentioned in the last chapter. In fact, so are Mewtwo and Pichu. For details, read Total War.)

Chapter 6: Sprung Traps

Spiderman shouted out as the smashers headed to the door. Having been quiet for a while, the smashers had almost forgot that he and Mace were there. "Hello? This huge, foreboding door just _opens by itself_, and we waltz right in? Maybe I'm not a professional smasher or whatever, but this seems like a bad idea."

"We can't leave Thyra and Clyne," Marth pointed out.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi agreed.

"Yeah…we obviously know it's a trap," Falco put in sarcastically. "Unfortunately, we're about to cross the line between loyalty and stupidity."

Luigi shook his head. "Translating froma sarcasm, he meansa that we shoulda be willing to savea our friends noa matter what. You'da do the samea for your friends, wouldn'ta you?"

Spiderman thought to himself. He (or his real-life version) would certainly walk into any traps to save Mary Jane.

"All right, fine. But be careful."

"Thanks," Link grinned. "For the permission _and _the advice."

The smashers laughed cautiously. Spiderman had verbalized each smasher's fears, and now they were walking right into Crazy Clyne's diabolical machinations.

Mario waited outside with Peach, alone and rather afraid. He had used a small handkerchief as a makeshift tourniquet, but it was far too small for Peach's festering wound, which was now an ominous dark red. Her skin was very pale, and starting to look yellow. Meanwhile, Mario was certain that Crazy Clyne knew he was alone, and was preparing a special treat for him. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Peach, though; she was looking worse every minute. Mario had no idea what to do with her, but hoped his friends would be successful quickly. 

The smashers were just two steps into the door when the trap was sprung. A bolt of electricity shot across the hall in front of the smashers. Then, the bolt split into 21 smaller balls of lightning. After a few tense minutes, hands and legs began to extend from the balls, and soon, each smasher was faced with his or her crazy counterpart.

"Not again," Samus sighed, referring to the group's tendency to have to deal with pseudosmashers. 

Spiderman looked around. "Aw, I feel so left out! I don't have any friends!"

Mace, who also had no opponent, laughed. "I'll be your friend. Let's go!"

Spidey and Windu dashed forward, trying to decide what to do next. Crazy Samus (henceforth C. Samus, etc.), who was on the end, tried to stop the two toys, but Samus fired her energy ball to clear the way. 

"Good luck!" she shouted. "And hurry!"

Samus turned just in time to see C. Samus firing a missile. Samus sidestepped, and smashed her opponent away. Falcon did a Falcon Dive to avoid his opponent's Falcon Punch. C. Falcon (yes, that's Crazy Falcon, not Captain Falcon) recovered and used his Falcon Kick to catch Falcon as he landed. C. Jigglypuff started singing, but Jigglypuff ended that quickly with a pound. Jigglypuff carefully got into position, then rested. C. Jigglypuff was hit squarely, but floated right back for more. 

Mario gasped as a bolt of lightning struck the ground right in front of him and Peach. The bolt became a ball of lightning, then split into two. After a few moments, a pair of white gloves burst out of both balls, which were followed by arms, and two bodies. 

"This isa not good," he muttered, seeing Crazy Mario and Crazy Peach before him.

Mace, looking straight ahead, sighed as he noticed the huge length of the room the smashers were fighting in. Spiderman, meanwhile, leapt into the air to avoid a spike that had just shot out of the ground. Then, the hero ducked to avoid a volley of spears. He sighed, watching Windu walk calmly beside him.

"He must just not like me," Spiderman sighed.

Just then, a huge trapdoor opened beneath Windu's feet. The Jedi barely seemed to notice, and floated across nonchalantly.

"You can fly?" Spiderman gasped.

"Not really. I used my telekinesis to carry myself. I can't maintain it for long, though."

Spiderman shrugged and continued forward. The pair finally made it to the other end of the room.

"On three?" Mace suggested. Spiderman nodded, and Mace began counting. "One…two…three!"

The two burst through the door. Standing in a small glass cage in the middle of the new, smaller room was Clyne. His crazy counterpart stood behind, staff at the ready.

(A/N: What? The smashers are stuck dealing with their counterparts while Spiderman and Mace Windu get to hog all the glory (assuming they can defeat the evil leader)? And what about Mario and Peach? Find out later.)


	8. A Losing Battle

Chapter 7: A Losing Battle

Mario stood petrified as C. Mario and C. Peach advanced. Taking one more worried glace at Peach, he assumed a fighting stance and prepared for battle. Sidestepping a golf club, Mario smashed his counterpart soundly. Being careful not to step on Peach, he ran over to C. Mario as he landed, and grabbed him. Spinning around vigorously, he threw C. Mario at the approaching C. Peach. Next, he jumped over and spiral kicked them as he landed, then caught them in a Mario Tornado.

As C. Mario and C. Peach flew into the air, they began to glow purple. In lieu of landing, they hovered over Mario and began to fire purple balls straight down at him. Mario yelped and darted away, contemplating his plan of attack. He looked at Peach again and saw that her entire wounded leg was turning black.

The rest of the smashers were each in a difficult battle as well. Falco fired a laser quickly and then used his Falco Phantasm. C. Falco retaliated with a swift roundhouse kick, sending Falco flying. C. Falco bounded over in pursuit and did a Reflector. Falco, flying away, was able to fire a laser before he landed. Rolling to his feet, the avian rushed over and grabbed his doppelganger. After kneeing him angrily, Falco tossed him down to the ground, fired a laser down, and then used his own Reflector. Taunting quickly, Falco didn't notice C. Kirby coming up from behind.

Kirby had been doing well in his battle, having sucked up C. Bowser's ability. However, his mistimed Brick attack had led him to the unfortunate location of C. Kirby's mouth. C. Kirby walked up and fired Kirby at Falco. Falco flew away, straight into C. Falco's clutches. Kirby landed and used his Final Cutter, following with a quick smash. Running up, Kirby engulfed himself in flames and collided with C. Kirby. C. Kirby responded with a flip-kick, sending Kirby into the air. C. Kirby quickly jumped and flip-kicked, then completed the combo with a Final Cutter. Kirby was stunned for a moment, and C. Kirby quickly smashed Bowser.

After recovering from C. Kirby's attack, Bowser found himself at the receiving end of a powerful headbutt from C. Bowser. C. Bowser then used a Bowser Bomb to add injury to injury. Bowser stood up slowly, but just in time to sidestep a Koopa Claw. Finally getting a chance to attack, Bowser grabbed his opponent and spun around, using his "Blender" throw. Then, he used Whirling Fortress on the airborne Koopa. As C. Bowser fell, Bowser jumped up slightly to impale C. Bowser with his shell. Finally, Bowser jumped up and slashed C. Bowser. Instead of flying away, though, C. Bowser dematerialized. Bowser took this as a sign of victory, and looked for allies that needed help.

Marth and Roy fell into that category. Both of their counterparts were vicious with their swordplay, and their glowing purple swords always seemed to supersede the smashers' attacks. Marth countered C. Marth's smash, but C. Roy's Blazer hit Roy squarely. C. Marth flew backward, but C. Roy caught him. The two crazy fighters then rushed their enemies together, simultaneously starting their sword-swinging combos. C. Marth's Dancing Blade impacted Marth, who was too slow to block. Roy sidestepped C. Roy's first attack of the Double-Edge Dance, but was unable to avoid the ensuing three. Bowser, seeing this, came from behind C. Roy and headbutted. C. Roy flew forward, and Roy used his Flare Blade. C. Marth, distracted, didn't notice Marth charging his Shield Breaker. Marth grinned as his attack caused C. Marth to dematerialize. Meanwhile, Bowser and Roy double-teamed C. Roy until the doppelganger disappeared as well.

C. Pikachu, meanwhile, resorted to its crazy powers. Launching purple bolts of electricity that went through Pikachu's regular blasts, C. Pikachu soon gained the advantage. C. Jigglypuff, meanwhile, glowed purple while singing, and fired a beam of musical notes at Jigglypuff, who fell asleep.

Crazy Clyne laughed and eyed Spiderman and Windu squarely. "Hmm…I must have forgotten to distract you two. Oh well, no matter."

"That's where you're wrong," Mace retorted, with his light saber at the ready.

"Help!" came a voice from behind them. Spiderman and Windu whirled around to see Thyra restrained on the opposite side of the room as Clyne. 

"Thyra! How did you get here?" Spiderman gasped.

"Never mind! Get me down!"

Crazy Clyne chuckled and cleared his throat. "Forgetting about me?"

As Spiderman and Windu turned around anew, Spiderman's spider sense began to tingle. Seeing that Crazy Clyne was idle, he backflipped and turned his head around. Sure enough, Thyra was standing behind them, with darts at the ready. Mace had also avoided a dart meant for him.

"Traitor," Mace hissed, confronting her.

"Fine. Leave me with Chuckles here," Spiderman sighed.

Crazy Clyne chuckled. "Bring it on, arachnid."

(A/N: Uh-oh! The smashers are slowly defeating their enemies, but Mario is still all alone! And Thyra and Crazy Clyne will be a tough match for Spiderman and Mace Windu! Find out what happens in the final chapter, coming at some point.)


	9. Final Battles

(A/N: Whew, it's been a while, hasn't it? School sucks…but anyway, how will Mace and Spiderman fare against Crazy Clyne and the traitor Thyra? And what will happen to poor Mario and Peach? And by the way, Super Hurricane, Crazy Jigglypuff's powers are different than Jigglypuff's, as is the case with the rest of the crazy doubles. That's why the former is able to shoot beams of music.)

Chapter 8: Final Battles

Mace had no trouble blocking Thyra's laser darts with his light saber. However, she was too fast for him to actually hit, and far too dangerous for him to ignore. Their stalemate was tempered by Spiderman's complete inability to affect Crazy Clyne in any way. The devious doppelganger used all of his powers to ensure that nothing Spiderman could do would harm him. If Spiderman fired webbing, Crazy Clyne easily melted it with purple flames. If Spiderman flipped around to attack physically, Crazy Clyne would simply phase out of existence and reappear somewhere else. If not for Spiderman's spider sense, the battle would be long over. 

"Spiderman, remember our fight!" Mace suggested, blocking a volley of darts.

Confused for a moment, Spiderman was struck by Crazy Clyne's staff, and stumbled backward.

Mario leapt into the air and meteor punched his double, enduring C. Peach's own meteor attack. As both Marios fell to the ground, the false Peach floated blissfully and fired a purple vegetable-shaped blast at Mario. Impacting squarely, Mario flew several feet away and landed near the gravely injured Peach. Her leg was completely black, and Mario shuddered to imagine what it would become next. He had to get her out of there, but how? 

C. Peach's frying pan hit the distracted Mario squarely, and C. Mario's fiery smash added to Mario's pain. Mario's vision faded to black as he heard Peach whimper. His thought, _Is she waking up?_, was the last thing to go through his head before he hit the ground.

Link had just bombed his counterpart into inexistence, and was preparing to help his younger self, when the C. Ice Climbers hammered each elf. The Ice Climbers disciplined their doubles with ice blasts, and then a powerful double smash. C. Y. Link tossed a boomerang, and Link stepped up to block it with his shield. Popo grabbed the doppelganger, and Nana swung her hammer powerfully, causing the false Link to disappear. The C. Ice Climbers dissolved after enduring several of Link's slashing smashes.

Samus, who had just fired an energy ball to defeat her opponent, called, "Everyone who's done here, go help Spiderman and Mace!"

Several smashers started running across the room, but a huge wall fell from the ceiling, blocking the door. The smashers eagerly began to try to break it.

Spiderman recovered quickly, and more carefully pondered Mace's advice. Finally, he realized the Jedi's suggestion. Grinning, he nodded thanks to Windu, and backflipped over Crazy Clyne's head.

"Foolish bug! You're wasting my time!"

Spiderman pointed his finger angrily. "I'm an arachnid," he replied, and kicked powerfully.

Crazy Clyne had been too busy taunting, and didn't react quickly enough. The red webbed boot impacted C. Clyne's hand, and he dropped his staff. Spiderman fired a webline and gained possession of the weapon.

Hands no longer glowing, Crazy Clyne glared. "Give that back, you coward!"

With a laugh, Spiderman replied, "My pleasure."

Just as he had done during his fight with Mace, he used a webline to fire the staff back to Crazy Clyne. The adhesive web stuck to C. Clyne's hands, and before he could react, Spiderman stepped back with one foot, pivoted, and started spinning. Mace jumped and Crazy Clyne's body struck Thyra, who was then an easy target for the handle of Mace's light saber. Spiderman nodded approvingly to the Jedi's action.

"You'll…pay…for…this!" Crazy Clyne shouted, sounding very disoriented. Spiderman laughed and let go of the web. The false Clyne flew into a wall and fell unconscious.

"Nice work, Spidey," Mace grinned.

"Thanks for the tip," the hero replied. "Hey, we should find Clyne."

"Yeah, I'll go-"

"Not…so fast," Crazy Clyne's weak voice arose from under the wall. "If I…can't have him…no one will."

"What-" Spiderman began to ask, when red lights began flashing ominously.

"Self destruct in thirty seconds. Twenty-nine."

Spiderman and Mace Windu looked at each other. Shaking their heads, they raced for the door, only to find a large wall blocking the way out. Mace activated his light saber.

"Twenty."

Samus gave up her attempts to destroy the wall as the electronic voice began its countdown. "Let's go," she suggested.

"What about Spidey and Mace?" Falcon asked.

Samus shook her head. "They'll have to find their way out."

Suddenly, a glowing red dot appeared on the wall. Soon, a glowing purple dot emerged, and began moving up and down.

"Whoa," Yoshi gasped, beholding the power of the light saber.

"Ten. Nine. Eight."

Samus waved the smashers away, staying to help Mace and Spiderman if necessary.

"Six. Five."

Finally, the hole was large enough, and Mace and Spiderman jumped through and started running as fast as they could. Samus was right behind them.

The smashers saw Samus, Mace and Spiderman run out of the door just as the building exploded. Flying bits of debris narrowly missed the nimble heroes, while Samus disregarded them due to her armor. 

"That was close," Samus remarked nonchalantly, a bit out of breath.

"Wait…where's Clyne?" Ness asked.

Mace shook his head. "After we defeated Crazy Clyne, we had no time to look…"

After a long, sad pause, Y. Link spoke up. "Well, at least Crazy Clyne's taken care of."

"Yeah," Falco agreed, "But now we have to get out of here and find Emerald and Aelali!"

"Wait a minute," DK gasped, looking around.

"What's wrong, DK?" Fox asked.

"Mario and Peach," the ape answered, looking around. "They're gone!"

(A/N: Well, this is quite a cliffhanger, isn't it? Now the smashers have to find Aelali and Mario and Peach. And just how will they get from dimension to dimension?

OK, well, I'm a little torn here, so I'll ask my faithful readers and reviewers. Should I continue this fic, or start a new one where this left off? Let me know your idea in a review, and don't forget to actually review the fic. Thanks!)


	10. Emerald's Visit

(A/N: Back by popular demand (sorta), this tale of good vs. evil now has a final chapter. I know it's been a while, but at long last, we rejoin the smashers as they find Mario and Peach missing, and deal with Clyne's untimely death and Thyra's betrayal. This sad time is unfortunately when the smashers are at their weakest…)

Chapter 9 - Emerald's Visit

"You're right, DK," Falcon gasped. "What could have happened?"

"I hope Peach is OK. She looked terrible when we went inside," remembered Link.

"Pikachu!" agreed Pikachu.

"And Clyne…I can't believe he's gone!" Zelda said sadly. "And Thyra was a traitor."

"I think that was fairly obvious," Falcon replied. "She just happened to appear to help us…"

"Well, why didn't you say anything?" Link teased, knowing the reason as well as he did. Thyra's beauty and grace had won them all over.

"Hey, guys, don't forget the real reason we're here," Falco reiterated his warning from before. "Emerald."

"Righta. Maybe hea has Mario anda Peach!" Luigi said angrily, clenching his fists.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Kirby soothed.

"Hey, what the-"

Mace Windu and Spiderman began to glow blue. Inexplicably, they slowly faded away, until there was no sign of their existence.

"What happened?" Ganondorf demanded.

Ness walked up and announced, "Master Hand took them back to the toy dimension because he decided to begin betting and tourist attractions again."

"What? Then I want to go back, too!" Popo announced. When the real Popo had been killed in the war with the shadows, his toy counterpart took his place by Nana's side.

"No, you can't!" Nana cried. "I need you!"

"Nana, you are a fine fighter on your own merits. Popo must help his home," Game & Watch, to whom Mewtwo and Ness had earlier bestowed the ability to speak, advised.

"Th-thanks," Nano sniffled.

"Hey! How about getting us out of here, huh?" Falco shouted angrily to the air.

As Popo faded away, Samus shook her head. "That doesn't seem viable, Falco," she said anxiously, pointing to the sky.

A brilliant green glow appeared above the smashers' heads. Soon, the entire world became green to the smashers, and they found themselves back in Eclipsia, facing down Emerald himself.

"Congratulations on your victory," he sneered. "Although it wasn't a total loss on my part."

"You-" Young Link shouted furiously. "Where are Mario and Peach? And Aelali?"

"Don't worry about them right now. You have more important concerns at the moment."

"Really," Bowser glared.

"It has come to my attention that the toy dimension will begin to accept tourists again," stated Emerald, who was floating a few feet above the ground with his arms crossed arrogantly.

"Yoshi?" Yoshi asked. 

"So, my little dinosaur friend, that is the perfect time to pay a little visit." Emerald replied. He reached out with his arm into a freshly created portal into the nearby toy dimension. When he retracted his arm, he held a shiny gold coin that was newly won by the government. "The toy dimension will finally be mine."

The coin slowly changed from gold to bright green. Then, Emerald threw it at the smashers. With no time to react, the smashers found themselves surrounded by a green light again. This time, they found themselves back in the toy dimension.

"What happened?" Master Hand wondered. "Did you-"

Samus filled him and Juvenor in, while the others announced their findings to the public. An immediate uproar began, and Master Hand did his best to quiet it. He quickly took the floor, and divulged his plans.

"There's no need for everyone to get involved in this. I suggest that we cancel all fights, and everyone who does not want to fight should leave."

"No one will want to seem like a coward!" Juvenor whispered to Master Hand.

"I know," replied the glove.

"After we spent so much time rebuilding, we're just going to fight another war?" Wolverine glared. "I say we chase 'im down and hit him first!"

Master Hand sighed. "We don't know where he is, Logan. Besides, he'd have the home team advantage, just like the shadows did."

Scowling, the mutant retreated into the crowd. Master Hand fell eerily silent.

"Are you OK? Master Hand?"

Juvenor's worries seemed to go completely unnoticed. Finally, Master Hand raised his hand (himself…) and snapped his fingers. Instantly, every toy and building disappeared in a flash of blue light. Only he, Juvenor, and the smashers remained.

"Why'd you do that?" Samus gasped.

"I don't want anyone else getting involved this time. You heard them – they're sick of war. It'd be better for everyone if we handled this ourselves."

"Except ourselves." Falco groaned. Laughing, the smashers agreed to battle Emerald.

"Couldn't we have just kept a few toys?" Young Link asked. "I mean, this guy _created_ the shadows."

Master Hand chuckled. "You're not scared, are you, Young Link?"

"What? Me? Never! Bring him on!"

Link grinned. "Seriously, though, my younger self has a point. We barely beat the shadows with all of the toys."

"Yes, because Anomaly was cautious, and calculating. Emerald, for all his might, is overbearing and cocky. That's why we can beat him."

"I sure hope so." Samus replied.

The End

(A/N: Thus ends my seventh action/adventure fic. My next will probably be my last (until SSB 3 comes out…ha), but I might attempt a few more humor fics. Senior year is a pain. Anyway, in the next fic, the smashers take on Emerald for the final battle for the toy dimension and all others. But what happened to Mario and Peach? And Aelali?)


End file.
